A Hint of Spring

FLOWERS!

My grandmother gave me tulips when I visited her last. They brighten up a winter’s day immensely.

When Life Hands You Lemons

What did one lemon say to the other lemon? ... Sour you?

We’ve been good and sick this month. In fact when I look back on this past fall and winter we’ve been sick a lot. More than usual. My family usually has a robust immune system. Other than a cold here or there we’re fairly healthy people.

The flu didn’t surprise me really. Every 4-5 years, like clockwork, I get a good one that lays me out flat for a few days. The kids get it every other year and the Man always gets it right after Christmas in time for New Years. That’s how it usually goes.

The kids have had the flu twice and a heady dose of a cold this year. It got me to thinking. Normally I clean house with hot soapy water. Except in the bathroom (it gets proper disinfectants just because poop, yeah I said it) I rarely use a store bought industrial cleaner. I’ll use vinegar and water or bleach and water solutions if I feel something needs a deep cleaning but normally it’s just good ol’ hot water and soap.

When we listed the house for sale we started using Mr. Clean and a variety of chemically type cleaners. I had stopped using them about 5 years ago when a friend of mine mentioned she was sensitive to cleaners they caused her to get sick, either bad headaches or whatever. So being a good friend I tried to go as natural as I could with cleansers so she could visit me. I noticed right away the  kids and I stopped being so sick ourselves. There was less colds  and flus happening with them. I’m not an expert or claim anything here but I feel commercial cleaners can do more harm than good in some instances. Also some people are more sensitive to chemicals than others, not everyone will have the same reaction or notice a difference. I’m just saying for my household I notice something isn’t  right and I’m going to see if this is what is happening.

Anyways after we de-listed the house I kept the new habit of cleaning by using cleansers. I can’t help but notice a difference in our health because of it.

So I’m going back to the old way of cleaning with hot soapy  water and vinegar/water, bleach/water solutions as needed – the bathroom still gets full Lysol treatment. But then I  remembered reading somewhere of making your own lemon or orange cleaner. Remember the big fad of orange oil a few years ago? I think every name brand corporation had their own version of it. They worked awesome and smelled even better! Anyways I’m making my own to see how it goes with natural cleaning and to have a nice scent afterwards. I googled for a recipe and it’s pretty  simple.

All you need is oranges or lemons and vinegar. That’s  it. Vinegar has anti-bacterial properties to it. Which is why it makes an excellent all purpose cleaner around the house. Plus it’s  food safe. You don’t  have to worry about chemical transfer from surfaces or having to rinse with water afterwards.

I took three lemons. I peeled the rinds off and placed the rinds in a 500 ml canning jar. Then I filled that to neck with vinegar (you add enough to cover the rinds). It takes about 4 weeks for it to settle into lemon oil – shake the bottle through out the four weeks. Then you strain the lemon-vinegar solution into a bottle, throw the rinds out (or compost) and you have your cleaner. I can’t remember if you have to dilute it to use it.

Anyways, I won’t know how well it works for another  three and a half weeks. Maybe I’ll post an update. Maybe I’ll have googled to see if it needs diluting. We’ll see.

Lemon rinds in vinegar. A still life.

I wrote the finish date on the jar lid so I’ll  remember when it’s  ready for use.

If it works out I’ll probably try it with oranges next.

Take care and be well.

Holiday Decor

Do you want to build a snowman?

This year, thanks to Pinterest, I  made a snow jar. I found some SnowReal at the local Canadian Tire and whipped up a batch  of fake snow and stuck it in an oversized cookie jar (also bought at Canadian Tire ). I added village trees and a broken snowman ornament from my Christmas tree ornament collection.

It took me maybe 10 minutes  to assemble and so far  everyone who saw it over the holidays thought  it was neat.

Next  year I may take a cue from  Martha Stewart and use kosher or coarse salt for snow and bury a mini led light pack to add a bit of sparkle.

Did Someone say Buttertarts?

We're going to make you fat and you'll love us for it.

With Christmas coming it’s that time of year to break out the baking. I make my usual fair of butter tarts, shortbread cookies and usually a failed attempt at something else because I’m adventurous like that. I’m thinking fudge would be a good attempt for this year but that’s besides the point.

So I’m known for my butter tarts. Or I like to think I am. I use my grandmother’s recipe which probably has been passed down in the family. But I can guarantee it my mom and I do not make the same butter tarts so something happened a generation back. Just so we’re all clear here. My recipe is the *authentic* one because it came from grandmama and mom probably got it from a cook book in eras past.

Let’s get this going here:

2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter (not margarine, this isn’t margarine tarts, got it!)
1 cup currants (or raisins – if you want the *fake* recipe – looking at you mom)
1/2 cup nuts (usually walnuts but pecans work lovely too)

Beat eggs in bowl, add each ingredient after one at a time, and mix well after each one. Pour batter into pre-made tart shells because we all know we ain’t got time for home made ones, and if you do have time we don’t want to hear about it, k. This recipe should make 24-30 tarts. Bake in oven 20 minutes at 350F  (be sure to pre-heat your oven because what baker doesn’t know to do that).

Mine always end up with a crispy top that likes to sink and crackle when cooled,  kind of like the tart in the middle of my picture there and sometimes they’ll look like  pebbly tops with the raisins or currants and nuts sticking out. Either way they’re tasty.

You can also omit the nuts if people are allergic to them. You can use margarine if you really have to but I’ll be giving you the side-eye of judgement if you do. You can also do a 50/50 mixture of raisins and currants if you prefer variety. This recipe can be easily doubled and the tarts freeze well.

And now a nursery rhyme:

The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts,
All on a summers day.

The Knave of Hearts,
He took the tarts,
And stole them clean away.

That’s all I got.
Bye.

Dog Days of Summer

Spoiled ass dog. That's what.

My aunt is dog sitting for my cousin while he and his girlfriend (possible fiance – I have no idea as I don’t pay attention to these things) went on a cross country trip to visit family.  However, my aunt went camping into bear country and her man-friend is allergic to dogs. Which meant Zeezee, my cousin’s dog for those who can’t follow along, couldn’t go camping because it would mean being outside overnight and becoming a tasty morsel for bears. So Zeezee came to my house. She’s still here for another day.

Zeezee is a quiet dog. She likes to be outside and has happily taken to sitting on the spare pillow I found for her to sleep on. She trucks around with her treats all day, I’m not sure if she eats them or just uses them as a status symbol against my cat. Hard to tell. Once she got out of my yard without me knowing but I happened to see her out my front window. I ran out in my bare feet to get her from my neighbour’s yard, that’s how much I don’t want a bylaw ticket I care for my cousin’s dog. She’s cute and easy to maintain when not attempting a Houdini act.

The first couple night she slept alone and then figured out how to get on my kid’s beds. Which is fine, she’s more like a cat than a dog so I let it slide. Last night there was a huge storm and the kids ended up in bed with me. Which is fine, they’re like giant cats so I let it slide. This morning Zeezee woke me up, I figure to be let outside to go do her business but no, apparently she had other plans than checking on her stocks. She wanted me to cuddle with her on my daughter’s bed. For real. So what do I do? Do I tell her to bugger off? Do I just go back to my bed? Do I put her outside like I would the cat who wakes me up early? Nope. I cuddled her and fell back asleep then woke up to the above scene. Zeezee was the happiest damn dog today. A little homesick but happy.

Because I'm happy motherfuckers.

I’m not usually a sucker for cute shit like that but today I’ll make an exception.

*

P.S. Winston is away at work with the Man. He is actually a working dog and his primary duty is to keep the Man company while he (the man) works away from home. Winston had an extended stay at home because the kids wanted him for a longer stay at home and also the Man’s work site at the time didn’t allow dogs for safety reasons. It was win-win all around and Winston and I bonded during this time (I’m not really a dog person, don’t get me wrong, I like dogs but I prefer cats because I enjoy being ignored by cuddly fureballs they’re low maintenance). Winston has a huge fan following at the worksite and was missed very much by the employees. That’s how cool of a dog he is. If Winston was home I’d probably have said no to dogsitting Zeezee since he’d have probably tried to hump her and she would have gotten squished. That’s never a good thing.